About 3Aex Platform

[Easyup]

"I received an introduction to this site from a friend I met in a chat. Unable to imagine it was a scam, I naturally visited the site he sent. Trusting my friend's seemingly genuine instructions, I purchased $40,000 worth of ETH here and transferred it to 3Aex through NDAX. However, when I tried to withdraw funds now, the online site only shows 'under review,' and the customer service is unresponsive. Additionally, my friend insists that I need to pay a fee to withdraw the funds. I'm not sure what to do. Upon reflection, I realize I only know his name and his photo what he shown. And what country he was from ; I don't have any other information. If possible, I'd appreciate advice on what to do in this situation." Also, If, like me, you were introduced to 3Aex, be sure to check it out first. Otherwise, you will find yourself in a difficult situation like me.
About 3Aex Platform

[acroman08]

is the website called 3aex.com? When did this happen? I can't access the website, it keeps showing "This site can’t be reached". also, I found a website called "aex.com", perhaps that's the website you are talking about?

anyway, I am not sure how legitimate your story is but if it is true, then it sounds like you got  "friendship/romance scam" I usually hear this kind of scam from people who are looking for love online. is the person who you are in chat with still in contact with you?

[Oshosondy]

All these uncommon easy-to-know scam exchanges from their names should be avoided. Why not just be using popular exchanges instead of going for the ways you can easily be scammed.

Recommended centralized exchanges
https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges

https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/decentralized

You may like to go for privacy exchanges like bisq or agoradesk.

https://bisq.network
https://agoradesk.com

[Cantsay]

It would have been better if you had included the site you’re talking about in your post so that we can get a better understanding of what you’re talking about; and just as the first post said I did a search and found 3aex(dot)com but the site is not accessible.

But then I found another one https://3aexlub(.)com; it’s and exchange but yet I don’t know if this is what you’re referring to or something different entirely.

[FatFork]

I did some googling and couldn't find much info on this 3A Exchange besides a couple sponsored articles on some obscure news sites.  Their website 3Aex(dot)com doesn't seem to have any old history either so I'm not sure if they were ever seriously operating.  OP, are you sure this is where you transferred money? Just curious why would you send funds there without double checking if it was legit?  Especially if they don't have much of an online footprint or reputation. 

I know this doesn't help you to get your money back, but just something to think about for next time. 

[coin-investor]

"I received an introduction to this site from a friend I met in a chat.

The worst place to take advice when it comes to where to purchase coins is from someone you just met on chat or social medias especially on telegram, not unless they are recommending a top exchange to buy top coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum

Unable to imagine it was a scam, I naturally visited the site he sent. Trusting my friend's seemingly genuine instructions,

The rule of the thump always is to protect yourself and your funds and you fail to do that, if you're going to purchase a huge amount you should do an investigation and dig deep it seems $40k for you, is not worth doing an investigation first before sending money.

I purchased $40,000 worth of ETH here and transferred it to 3Aex through NDAX. However, when I tried to withdraw funds now, the online site only shows 'under review,' and the customer service is unresponsive. Additionally, my friend insists that I need to pay a fee to withdraw the funds.

There's a money scam report that works like this you need to send money so you can withdraw the funds, if this is the first time you encounter this then you have been scammed and this is a lesson learned for you.

not sure what to do. Upon reflection, I realize I only know his name and his photo what he shown. And what country he was from ; I don't have any other information. If possible, I'd appreciate advice on what to do in this situation." Also, If, like me, you were introduced to 3Aex, be sure to check it out first. Otherwise, you will find yourself in a difficult situation like me.
About 3Aex Platform

This is what happens if you do not do an investigation all the signs are there that it's a scam scheme if you're only aware of the many reports here and you know how to do an investigation, now you know that you need to be very careful when meeting someone online, this is a hard and sorry lesson.

[Rikafip]

"I received an introduction to this site from a friend I met in a chat.

Rule of thumb: someone you meet online recommends you a great investment site=scam. Let me guess, you met that person on a dating site?

Additionally, my friend insists that I need to pay a fee to withdraw the funds. I'm not sure what to do.

The only thing that you can do now is to accept the loss and not send them any more money as the only thing that will happen if you send them more money is that you will end up losing even more. Too bad that you didn't try the site with less money instead going immediately with 40k, but it is what it is now.

[robelneo]

It's hard to be a newbie in Cryptocurrency investing without getting the right guidance, I can't blame new investors for wanting to make a profit, but they unfortunately fall to someone online who is looking for newbies like him to present his scamming scheme.
This is one of the reasons why in our country there is low adoption because there are scammers preying on new investors because they lure them for a quick profit.
OP's experience is another story of newbies getting victimized because of a lack of people to guide them properly.
Once people you meet on dating apps talk about investing in Cryptocurrency that's the first sign that he has a hidden agenda.

[348Judah]

"I received an introduction to this site from a friend I met in a chat.

Should I say that people are that linient enough to this extent in believing in a strange person they hooked up with on chat through the social media or is it that they are just being daft and careless, how can i meet someone through the social media at first and give me a recommendation to go with and i will also accept without any adequate and proper research.

Unable to imagine it was a scam

Right from reading the first sentence of your thread post i already Know what would be the end of what you've done, this is how many cases of being scammed started, my question is how comes you aren't that sensitive to easily make detection of this as a scam attempts right from the first time encounter.

[rat03gopoh]

Unfortunately you have to pay a heavy price to find out that there are no "friends" on the internet. By the way, are you from Canada?

If possible, I'd appreciate advice on what to do in this situation.

You're not the first to come to the forum with a similar experience, and almost all cases are unsuccessful with pleasant stories. Sorry, you only have 0.001% hope left.

[logfiles]

When you are still new to something and there's a stranger trying to introduce you to it, it's better you ask for guidance from other people who you think might have better knowledge about it. The internet is a cruel place, and it's full of scammers. Do not just trust anyone, anyhow. Always try to verify, even if the person seems to be genuine. Be paranoid at whatever cost when it comes to your money.

Those funds you sent to the platform are gone, I don't think you will be able to know the scammers, let alone recover the funds.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

OP, this absolutely sounds like a scam situation to me. It seems you have been scammed. The person you claim to be your friend might be in collaboration with that site, and they might have blocked your IP from accessing the site. There was a situation I had in the past where I was blocked out of the site, but I tried to use another device to see if the site could open, and it did. I just knew it was a total scam. I'm not sure you can actually get your money back, but I will advise that you should not trust people you met online only. Don't trust them with your funds.